embarrassment
Americannoun
-
embarrassments
plural
-
the state of being embarrassed; disconcertment; abashment.
- Synonyms:
- discomposure
-
an act or instance of embarrassing.
-
something that embarrasses.
-
an overwhelmingly excessive amount; overabundance.
an embarrassment of riches.
-
the state of being in financial difficulties.
-
Medicine/Medical. impairment of functioning associated with disease.
respiratory embarrassment.
noun
-
the state of being embarrassed
-
something that embarrasses
-
a financial predicament
-
an excessive amount; superfluity
Synonym Usage
See shame.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of embarrassment
From the French word embarrassement, dating back to 1670–80. See embarrass, -ment
Explanation
When you feel embarrassment, you are self-conscious or ashamed. Embarrassment might keep you from wearing your Statue of Liberty Halloween costume in public. Something that makes you blush — like when ten people rush up to tell you how great your tuba solo was or realizing that you left the house in your pajama bottoms — causes you embarrassment. The person or thing that makes you feel awkward and ashamed can also be described as an embarrassment. To avoid embarrassment, remember to double the r's and s's when you spell embarrassment.
Vocabulary lists containing embarrassment
Emotions on Display
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Much Ado: Synonyms for "Many"
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"One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The latest polls suggest that a full 20 percent of the electorate intends to vote for the bin, a gigantic improvement on any of Binface’s past showings, and in any case an embarrassment for Farage.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
The touching moments of aspirational maturity are set against bouts of jealousy, public embarrassment and other adolescent growing pains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
“Hillbilly Elegy” was turned into a 2020 film by Ron Howard, but it is mostly remembered as an embarrassment.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
An absolute embarrassment of riches — not that the Rams are shy about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
I don’t want to tell you, then not be able to do it, and then suffer the inevitable overwhelming embarrassment.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
The moves by Khanna and Veasy put Republicans in an awkward spot, but they are likely just symbolic embarrassments.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2025
Why not say it because you know everybody’s thinking it, from those envious little brothers down in San Diego to the expensive embarrassments in New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025
Towards the end of his political career, a series of embarrassments - including an affair and allegations of ministerial impropriety - threatened to tarnish his salt-of-the-earth image.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2024
She reminds us that “his every step” has been “inspected and analyzed: his promise, his awkwardness, his happiness, his suffering, his betrayals and embarrassments and mistakes, his loneliness, his success.”
From New York Times ● May 5, 2023
I thought about life, about my life, the embarrassments, the little coincidences, the shadows of alarm clocks on bedside tables.
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
